Refrigerator



Patente'd. Jara.- 1, 1929.

YUrufiau STATES minnaar 1T. u* lor rmiumnrma,

:acusa nnn'rnrc .vm

' Application led June 4,

My invention relates to refrigerating ma'- chines, Aparticularly to small capacity ma'- chines of the compression type which are suitable for household use, and "it has for 5 an objectto provide apparatus of the character designated which shall include evaporators having a high capacity and eiciency for absorbing heat.

It has for a further object to reduce the l 10 overall size of refrigerators of respective for the manufature of a substantial quan-l l. tit of ice for table or similar use. ese and other objects, which will be made apparent throughout the further descri tion of the invention, may be attained" by t e employment of the apparatus hereinafter described and illustrate in the accomanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a View 1n longitudinal section of an evaporator 1nstalled in the cold-storage box of ,a compres-v sion refrigerator; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation taken-on the line II-II of so Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken on the line III-III' of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional elevation of the refrigerator box showing the circulation of. air'therein; Fig. 5 is a detail view of a combined spacer and stiifener employed in the construction of my evaporator, and Figs. 6 and 7 are partial views in section of two modified forms of construction lfor the cir.- culating compartment of the evaporator.

Compression refrigerators nominally comprise a chamber in which a working fluid is evaporated at a relatively low temperature and pressure, a chamber in whichthe vapors are condensed at a higher temperature and pressure, a compression mechanism for .transmitting the vapors from the evaporation chamber to the condensing chamber, and a valved conduit `for returning the cndens'ing fiuid at a reduced pressure to the evaporation chamber. The cycle isv continuous during any period of operation, heat being absorbed from the medium surrounding the evaporation chamber to secure the desired refrigerating effect, which heat is re-4 tion to the contents ofthe ber. Apparatus of. this character y rnmrmvam, 'assrenon 'ro wnsrrncam) mnuracrnnmeconrnnv, A conronn'rIoN or PENNSYI.-

i mnmmron.

,1923- smal no. 643,403.

moved from the apparatus by bringing an outside medium into heat-exchanging relacondensing chamenerally' operates intermittently, for example, a period of operation offrom one to one and one-quarter hours being followed by a period of inactivity of from one and one-half to two hours, the length of the periods dependmg upon the duty imposed upon the refrigerator and upon the'setting of the-.65 automatic devices for controlling the starting and stopping of the compression mechanlsm. I y

In the various types of compression refrigerators heretofore proposed, it has gen- 7n erally been the practice to provide evaporators of some suitable shape or proportions, having little regard for the inner contour of the refrigerator box. The arrangement of these evaporators within the box usually re- 73 sults 1n Va considerable amount'of unusable space belng present in the upper portion thereof, as well as presenting a path of conslderable resistance and a non-uniform .arca of flow for' the circulation of` air around so the evaporators. 1

In my/apparatus, I provide anl evaporator of hlgh efficiency which is so designed, with respect tothe inner contour of the refrigerator box, as to completely utilize the A.

upper portion thereof, leaving only sufficient space between its-cooling surfaces and the box as is required for sufficient air circulat1on. Furthermore, this air space is of uniform flow area throughout, thereby inducmg a steady uniform siphonic circulation o f air within the refrigerator box at all tlmes. Because of the utilization of all avallable space in my apparatus, the size of the refrlgeratorbox may be materially less- 9a enedfor respective capacities, resulting in a decrease in radiating surface and a corresponding increase in eiciency of the reyfrigerating machine.

It is customary in machines of this type, y to associate with the evaporation chamber Vor evaporator facilities for the manufacture of ice. In the varioustypes of evaporators heretofore proposed, the ice manufacturing capacity has been very meagre and generally has not been suliicient to meet the requirements of the average household. In the evaporator of thel present invention, am-

f ing fluid ple facilities for the production of relatively large quantities of ice are provided in the lar e interior chamber of theevaporator. eferri'ng to the drawing for a more detailed description of my invention, I show in Fig..1 arefrigerator box 10 having disposed therein an evapora or 11 and superimposed upon the evaporator 11 1s a surge tank 12. The evaporator 11 1s composed of an inner heat conducting casing 13 anda. part of each endl portion being riveted over upon the outside of the casings and soldered thereto to insure gas tightness. The working 'iuidis confined within the circulating compartment 16 by Hanging over the front and rear end portions 21 of the` outer casing 14 and welding or soldering the ends thereof to the inner casing 13. It will be noted that the front and rear endportions 21 are connected to the inner casin (f 13 along a line short of the edges thereof I have und from the actual manufacture of my` apparatus, that such construction greatl facilitates the making of a gas tight Joint etween the inner and outer casings.

A relatively thin plate 23 extends across the rear of the ice making compartment 15 and is secured at the edges thereof to the inner casin 13. A similar plate 24 extends across the ront of the ice making 'compartment and has provided therein suitable access openings which are closed `,by the doors 25. The doors 25 vmay be preferably su ported upon spring hlnges 26 so as to e biased to a closed position. The plates 23 and 24 and the doors 25 substantially prevent circulation of air between the ice making compartment 15 and the refrigerator' box. The interior of the ice making compartment 15 may be provided wit-h a removable shelf 27 carried u on suitable sup orting members 28. A piurality of ice rawers or molds 29 of any well-known construction may be placed upon the shelf 27 and upon the lower portion of the casing 13.

Working uid is conve ed to the circulat 'ing compartment 16 of t e evaporator by a conduit 31 which extends downwardly through the surge tank 12 and evaporator 11 and terminates near tle bottom thereof. In order to facilitate assembly and disassembly of my apparatus, I arrange -the lower, or, that portion of the conduit 31 which is confined within the ice making compartment 15, concentrically within a central the conduit being in bearing engagement therewith. A slight leakage of working Huid upwardly between the conduit and the central supportinv member is insufficient to materiallyy effect the performance of the apparatus. The central supporting member 32 is provided with end ortions 33 of smaller diameter which exten beyond the inner casing.' The central sup orting member is welded or soldered to tiie upper and lower portions `of the inner casing 13 and helps maintain them in spaced relation.

Refrigerant vapors are discharged from the circulating compartment 16 by means of a conduit 34'which communicates with the lower portion of the surge tank 12. IDisposed within the surge tank is an -upwardly-extending sleeve member 35, closed at the lower end and supported upon the inlet conduit 3'1. The circular opening between the4 upper end of the sleeve member 35 and the surge tank 12 is for the (passa e wor of refrigerant vapor, while the liqui ing Huid is conveyed through a small hole or restricted opening 36 provided in the sleeve member 35 below the working level of the liquid inthe outer compartment of the surge tank. An outlet conduit 37 is arranged concentrically withoutl-the conduit 31 and,.as shown, extends downwardly into f the tank, making a tight joint therewith where it passes through vthe upper ortion. As shown in Fig. 4, a baie 38 is disposed beneath the evaporator and extends the longitudinal length of the refrigerator box.

Figs. 6 and 7 show modified forms of construction for the evaporator which eliminate the use of the stiffeners 17. As shown in Fig. 6, the outer casing 14 is rovided with a plurality of .circular in entations v40 which register with similar indentations in the inner casing 13, the two casings ,being spot welded together where the respective indentations marke contact as at 41. In Fig. 7, only the outer casinfr is indented, the indentations 42 being orf suiiicient depth to make contact with the fiat inner casing to level, such as indicated on the drawing, with a suitable working fluid. This working'uid may consist of a combined refrigerant and vlubricant which readily mix one with the other. Upon startinor the compression mechanism (not shown of the refrigerator, liquid working fluid is supplied through the inlet conduit 31 kto the lowerportion of the pressure maintained in the evaporator by the compressor (not shown). 'Heat is absorbed from the refrigerator box, or, air

surrounding the outer surfaces of the evaporator, as well as from the inner or ice making compartment.

In the use of a considerable number of' suitable working fluids for refrigerators of this type, and especially where a mixed lubricant and refrigerant comprisel the working Huid, evaporation produces a violent ebulition or foaming. By providing a surge tank l2 and locating it with respect to the evaporator as illustrated, this foam is vcarried over into the surge tank, insuring a body of liquid working iuid being present in the entire circulating compartment of the evaporator at all times. VBecause of the relatively high specific heat of the liquid, a maximum of cold storage or heat absorption consistent with thesize of the evaporator is obtained. j Refrigerant vapor passes out of the evaporator by means of the conduit 34 and rises upwardly through the liquid working fluid to the upper portion of the surge tank. It

then passes over the upper end of the vsleeve 35 and thence downwardly to the entrant portion of the outlet conduit 37 wherein it is once more conveyed to the suction of the compressor (not shown). The restricted opening 36, being located below thev level of the liquid working fluid within the outer portion of the surge tank, a small amount of this luid flows 4continuously to the outlet conduit 37, into the suction of the compressor and serves to lubricate the working parts thereof.

Refrigerators of this type are usually pro-` vided with automatic control means which 'stop the operation of the compression mechanism upon sufficient absorption of heat from' the refrigerator box to lproduce a predetermined temperature therein, and which restart the mechanism upon apredetermined consequentlythe temperature of the ice.

making compartment is independent of the b temperature of the refrigerator box. Should ice not be fully formed during one operation of the machine, the temperature prevailing within the ice making compartment will remain substantially constant during the inactive period of the machine, and the manufacture of the ice will be resumed upon a restarting of the device. j

.A thermo-siphonic circulation of air within the refrigerator box is, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4, induced by the heat absorption of the evaporator. The bailie 38 is disposed at such angle as will tend to direct the warm air upwardly, toward the front of the box. It then'passes over the top and down past the sides'and rear of the relatively cold evaporator to the food storage portion of the box. It will be noted that the air passa es between the evaporator and the box are o? constant flow area throughout, thereby minimizing resistance to flow land inducing a constant and efficient passage of air about the evaporator.

While I have shown my invention in but three forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, that it is notv so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications, 'without departing from the spirit. thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shallbe placed A thereupon 'as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the ap' pended claims.

What I claim is: l. In apparatus for cooling a refrigerator, the combination of a cooling receptacle having heat-conducting walls, and a jacket surrounding the receptacle and terminating` short of the endsthereof and having heatconducting Walls whichl define, with the walls of the receptacle, an evaporation chamber.

2. The combination with a refrigerator box, of a cooling element arranged within the refrigerator box and comprising a plurality of compartments joined in stepped relation, the joint connecting the compartments being exposed to the4 interior of the refrigerator box, one 'of said compartments form- .ing an lice-making chamber and the other of said compartments forming a refrigerant expansion chamber. t

3. The combination with a refrigerator box, of a cooling element disposed within the refrigerator box comprising an inner compartment forming an ice-making chamber and an outer compartment disposed about the inner compartment and forming a refrigerant expansion chamber, said icemaking chamber and said refrigerant expansion chamber being .joined in stepped relation and solarranged that the joint is exposed tothe Iinterior'of the refrigerator In testimony whereof, have hereunto subscribed my name this 28th day ofMay, 1923. l Y

HERBERT T. HERR. 

